Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978)

Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Curtis Harrington directed this made-for-television horror movie about a group of Satan worshipers who get a dog, which eventually gives birth to a litter of puppies. One such puppy is taken in by a family and soon the husband (Richard Crenna) realizes that something isn't quite right with the dog. Before long his wife, daughter and son are possessed and strange things are happening around the neighborhood including murder.DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL is a fairly entertaining movie, which could have been even better had it not ran for 95-minutes. The film really starts to drag towards the end and I couldn't help but think it would have been much better had it had a 75-minute running time. WIth that said, there's enough going on here to make it worth sitting through and especially if you enjoy these 70's television movies.I honestly thought the best part of the movie were the performances with Crenna delivers a very strong one as the father who starts to see everything around him fall apart.. Yvette Mimieux is also very good in the role of the wife and I especially liked how she played the possessed character. Both Kim Richards and Ike Eisenman are good in their roles as the children. As I said, everyone does a very good job playing "normal" as well as the possessed parts and this adds to the film's charm.The demonic dog is rather laughable but at the same time it looks just right for this type of 70's horror film. There's a nice music score and there's no doubt that Harrington delivers a well-made movie. One just wishes that the running time had been shorter or that the screenplay had gotten to the point of the dog a lot quicker. Still, DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL is an entertaining movie.

Standard ABC Movie of the Week type meant as filler around commercials, with TV stalwart Richard Crenna as a dad whose family becomes possessed by a demon dog. No blood, no suspense, and way too much screen time for Crenna, who was always a competent but dull leading man. Yvette Mimieux plays his wife, who interestingly enough turns into quite the nymphomaniac after the dog gets hold of her. It's all talk, however. The dog itself is also dull, mainly sitting around and staring. All murders are committed off-screen. Worth a watch for the silly hairdos and clothing, especially the daughter's initial sailor-style outfit that might have looked better on someone half her age. And as for Mimieux, at one point, Crenna asks he about a dress she's wearing to visit a male friend, as if it were too sexy. By today's standards, it looks like something a granny would wear. Oh, and then there's the 1970s cars, big ugly tanks that you would have thought the American auto industry had given up on with Toyota and VW and others gaining ground quickly with much smaller, more maneuverable and efficient vehicles. Crenna's two vehicles in this movie are so massive, you have to wonder how they managed to fit in his backlot driveway. Anyhow, be prepared to snooze. Some gory murders or special effects might have helped.

I was thrilled to learn from one of the previous comments that this "horror" movie is available on DVD! I don't remember much about it, but do recall the cheesy special effects and the vain attempts to make a cute German Shepherd puppy look spine-chillingly evil. The scene I remember best and still laugh about is when the family's maid, (who's a Latino and is therefore in touch with unseen forces), sees the adorable little puppy, complete with disproportionately huge paws, and IMMEDIATELY recognizes him as evil! The special effects crew achieved this effect by shining a flashlight in his eyes, causing them to glow malevolently, or so the audience was supposed to think. She begins backing away from the puppy in terror, crossing herself and crying out, "Ohhh, Madre de Dios!" Her prayers are to no avail, as she soon meets a horrible fate at the hands (or paws) of Devil Dog. The end, where we see Devil Dog's "true" form is an absolute riot! They took some dog and stuck a wig and a horn on his head, as I recall, and then projected the whole ridiculous spectacle on a giant screen, designed to make the viewing audience reel in horror.One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is the cast. I love those familiar faces from the seventies and eighties, whose ranks, alas, are thinning: Richard Crenna, Yvette Mimieux, R.G. Armstrong, et al. And the production values from that era were far superior to what's on TV today - much better color, for one thing, and the scripts, even in a cheesefest like this, were more like real conversation and not loaded with "edgy, hip", mean-spirited remarks like the garbage on TV today.We need more fine films like Devil Dog: Hound of Hell!

A Satanic cult procures a dog for the sole purpose of breeding it with a demon and then has a huge litter that is given away to unsuspecting people all over the country. Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell tells the story of one family caught up in this unspeakable horror. Okay, perhaps I am getting a bit too melodramatic given the material here. Yes, it is a made-for-television production. Yes, Richard Crenna is the leading "star." Journeyman director Curtis Harrington(Whoever Slew Auntie Roo, What's the Matter with Helen?, and several other genre credits)directs with his usual touch. The story obviously has holes and problems of credibility: a dog is really a demon centuries old that has a story all his own, Richard Crenna manages to keep his hand out of a lawnmower blade because he is the "chosen" one, and so many more. Despite all these problems, the average yet solid direction, the cheap feel that comes with a seventies TV production, ridiculous special effects, I found myself thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. Like another reviewer noted, movies from this decade in the horror genre are just different than any other decade. They have a certain quality hard to put your finger on. As for the cast Crenna always does a workmanlike job, Yvette Mimieux is eerily good, Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards(the Witch Mountain kids) are sickeningly sweet and evil and perfect in this concoction of unreality, and the film boasts a minor array of interesting cameos with Victor Jory, Barbara Steele, and R. G. Armstrong(soon to be Uncle Lewis Vendredi in the TV Friday the 13th: the Series).